


Open Letters

by starsthatburn



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, First Dates, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Getting to Know Each Other, Letters, Love Letters, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:34:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26494945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starsthatburn/pseuds/starsthatburn
Summary: (Part two toLetters of Note, a story I wrote in 2013)Emma has read all the letters Regina wrote to her and finally understands how she really feels. Now all she has to do is work out what how own feelings are, and what this means for them moving forward.Requested by AllHailtheSwanQueen /@JtotheZ18on Twitter.
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan
Comments: 27
Kudos: 201





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AllHailtheSwanQueen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllHailtheSwanQueen/gifts).



> This is part two to _[Letters of Note](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9546520/1/Letters-of-Note)_ , which I recommend reading (or at least skimming) before reading this for context.
> 
> Also, for those who haven't seen, I'm now open for commissions! You can find all the info you need in my pinned tweet on Twitter @_starsthatburn. Please note that I won't be doing any other commissions that are continuations of my old fics - this was a special one-off.
> 
> Huge thanks to AllHailtheSwanQueen for the gorgeous prompt!!! I had an absolute blast writing this xx

When Regina pulled back from the kiss, Emma's eyes were still open. She was watching her in a strange way – not quite shocked, but more curious, like she hadn't expected Regina to actually go through with it. Now that she had, she wasn't sure how to respond. 

Regina herself was feeling slightly confused. As much as she'd tried to push it aside, she'd been thinking about kissing Emma for months. Any time they'd found themselves alone in a room together – battling about town policy over Regina's desk, or sniping about Henry on the path leading up to her house – she'd found herself overcome with a perverse urge to grab the front of Emma's too-tight shirt and tug her in for a kiss that left her reeling. She could almost picture it – Emma's flustered, slightly annoyed face, and the way that her sharp words would suddenly vanish from her like the wind being taken out of her sails. Regina had longed to try it, just once. 

This hadn't exactly been what she'd expected. 

The kiss had been closed-lipped and tentative, and it had ended because there was no way to move it forward. Regina had felt how rigid and uncertain Emma's body was even without putting her hands on it. The second their lips had met, she'd wondered if she was doing the right thing – Emma hadn't exactly demanded it, nor did she look particularly thrilled now that it was over. Instead, she was watching Regina with her forehead furrowed and her teeth digging into her freshly kissed bottom lip. Eventually, Regina had to be the one to break the silence. 

"Was that okay?" 

Emma's cheeks instantly turned pink. She stepped back. 

"Yeah," she said, glancing away. "Yeah, of course." 

Regina frowned. "Are you sure? You don't look very pleased." 

She was forced to watch as Emma's face turned even redder. She took another step back, her right hand unconsciously drifting up to graze over her lips. Regina waited for the inevitable. 

Instead, she was shocked when Emma blurted out, "I'd never thought about you like this before." 

"Oh. Okay." 

"I mean, I knew something was up," Emma continued, her index finger still dancing against the corner of her mouth. "I knew I should want to kill you and I didn't, which was weird all by itself, but I didn't think... I didn't think it meant this. But then I started getting those letters and at first I just assumed someone was messing with me, but the more I read them, the more confused I got. I mean, you're Regina, right?" 

Regina blinked. "Right." 

"Right," Emma repeated. "And as far as I was aware, you weren't even capable of having feelings. But the letters sounded so much like you and you were so confused and sad and they just made me confused too. I started wanting to get them and to find out more about you and how you felt about me. And then before I knew it you were here and they were over and I—" 

She suddenly realised she was rambling and ground to a halt. Regina was watching her with her eyebrows raised and her hands clasped in front of her like she didn't trust herself not to reach out and do something reckless with them. 

Emma swallowed and tried again at a slightly slower pace. 

"I've known for a really long time that I didn't hate you the way I probably should," she said, relieved that Regina didn't look offended by that. "And I knew that whenever you showed up in the sheriff station or appeared at Granny's just to yell at me, I was always kind of glad to see you. I liked arguing with you. I liked seeing you get all mad at me. And I liked... I liked knowing you were thinking about me, even if it was just because you wanted to choke me a little bit." 

Regina felt like she should interrupt there and correct her, but she didn't. 

She watched Emma give her a little nod before she continued. "I think I just need to get my head together a bit. Is that okay?" 

"Of course. You can take all the time you need." 

"Cool. Thanks. And..." Emma swallowed. "Once I've had some time to think, maybe we can have a proper conversation about this? Just the two of us. Privately." 

Heat surged through Regina's body like the building had gone up in flames. "Absolutely. Let me know when you're ready and I'll find a way to get rid of Henry for the night." 

Emma automatically rolled her eyes. "God. That kid is such a menace." 

"I'm going to make sure he's punished for this for a very, very long time. Don't worry." 

There was a beat, and then at the exact same moment, they both smiled. It was the first time they'd ever shared one together. Just the sight of Regina tentatively beaming at her made Emma's fingers go prickly, and she swallowed hard so that her own smile didn't accidentally turn into relieved tears. 

"I guess I'll head off," Regina said eventually. Emma was still only a few feet away and every part of her wanted to step forward and try that kiss again. She wanted to know what it felt like when Emma melted into her and sighed happily into her open mouth. She wanted to feel those soft blonde curls with her own hands and know what noises Emma made when they got gathered up and yanked backward. 

Emma watched the way her body twitched, and she knew what she was thinking. Part of her wanted it too. Their kiss had been short and unsure, and although she had no idea what was going to happen next, she already wanted to experience something more than that. She'd felt just from the pillowy softness of Regina's lips, and from the slight break in pressure where the scar on her mouth cut into the picture, that Regina had the capacity to completely undo her. She was terrified of that – and yet, she wasn't. Not at all. 

When Regina half reached out, then hesitated and pulled back, Emma wanted to cry. But instead she nodded, knowing that was probably the smartest move for now, and watched as Regina walked away. 

* * *

Henry had spent the entire day vibrating in his chair. At lunchtime, he'd even sought out the only payphone at school to try and call his mom to find out whether she was okay. It had rung out, and he'd been forced to spend his afternoon not listening to a word Miss Blanchard was saying, and then getting bitterly reprimanded whenever she noticed. 

He ran back from the bus stop and threw open the front door. Normally, Regina didn't get home until six. That day, at not even four, she was sitting at the dining room table waiting for him. 

Henry tossed his backpack to the floor and barrelled toward her, only noticing her expression when he was a few feet away. Her arms were folded on the table and her spine was rigid. He hesitated before sitting down opposite. 

What he didn't know was that beneath her steely expression, Regina was still shaking from what had happened that morning. She'd had the whole day to replay the entire incident in her head, which meant she'd been shooting back and forth between feeling stupid, relieved, angry and panicked for the past seven hours. 

But she didn't have a chance to tell him that, because the second he was seated, he opened his mouth. 

"Mom, I'm sorry," he blurted out. "I was mad at you and about my book and I thought Emma would want to know, so I just did it and I didn't think about you and I didn't know you'd be upset. I didn't mean to make you look bad or anything." 

"Henry—" 

"And I thought Emma would be _happy_! Was she? Did you talk?" In the same breath, he continued, "I can go and talk to her, if you like. I don't mind. I can say it was a joke or that we were playing a prank on her. Then she'll be mad at me and not you." 

Regina sighed. "Henry..." 

"And for what it's worth, I actually liked what you said in those letters. I always thought you hated her and when I realised that you don't, it made so much sense. I think you would be really good together, and it would be so cool if we could all go out together as a family and you wouldn't be fighting anymore or arguing about whose son I am, and—" 

"I think you're getting a bit carried away," Regina finally managed to interrupt him. "Also, please don't even remind me that you read what I wrote ever, ever again." 

"Why not?" 

Regina glared at him. "Because it's humiliating, Henry." 

"Why?" 

"Because it's—" Regina cut herself off with a wave. "I'm not getting into it. The point is, you're in big trouble. We need to talk about your respect for other people's personal property and where the boundaries lie." 

After a long pause, Henry tentatively pointed out, "But this only started because you took _my_ personal property." 

Scowling at the fact that he was making a perfectly valid point, Regina said, "You know you shouldn't have sent them to Emma." 

"Yeah, I do. And I really am sorry. I just thought... she'd probably want to know, and it might help you both. You know, eventually." 

He did _look_ like he was sorry – his hair was a fluffy mess, which Regina knew meant he'd been digging his fists in it all day, and his hazel eyes were much wider and glassier than usual. He was watching her pleadingly, not like he was scared of her blowing up at him, but like he was worried she was actually hurt by what he'd done. She wasn't sure he'd ever looked at her like that before. 

She sighed and reached across the table. He grabbed her hand immediately. 

"I know you thought you were trying to help," she said slowly, "and I forgive you. But you're still going to get punished, because you did something really, really bad." 

Henry nodded solemnly. "I know." 

"And you're never going to do it again, are you?" 

"Not unless you have any more letters hidden somewhere," he replied, risking a grin. Regina rolled her eyes. 

"If I did this morning, they'd all be in the fire by now." 

Relief made Henry's entire body sink. The rage on his mother's face had faded now – instead, she just looked tired. 

"So," he said slowly, still holding onto her cold hand. "What did she say?" 

He wasn't entirely surprised when Regina looked flatly back at him. "Excuse me?" 

"Emma. What did she say about the letters?" 

"Henry, do you seriously think I'm going to share that with you?" 

"Why not?! I want to know!" 

Regina released his hand so that she could reach across the table and tap his nose. "I'm aware that you do. But, as with everything else that's happened, this is absolutely none of your business." 

He scowled back at her. "Was she mad at you?" 

"Henry." 

"Or was she happy? I bet she was." 

Just like that, Regina was thinking of how it had felt to have her lips pressed against Emma's, even just for a few seconds. It had made her go warm all over. Even the confused, slightly panicked expression on Emma's face had been soft and comforting, because anxiousness was so much better than the rejection she'd been expecting. Emma had wanted to explain, wanted to talk, and wanted to work through this together. That was far more than she’d allowed herself to hope for. 

She knew her cheeks were going red long before Henry grinned and pointed at them. "She was! I knew it!" 

"Henry." 

"What did she say? Are you going to go out? Did you _kiss_?" 

" _Henry_." 

"I can't wait to talk to her about this! It's so—" 

"You are absolutely not going to talk to _anyone_ about this," Regina snapped. "Don't you think you've interfered enough?" 

"But it worked!" 

"That is not the point! You meddled in something that had nothing to do with you, and now I'm having to clean up your mess. Now, I need you to promise me you won't go badgering Emma for information when she's already got enough on her plate." 

Her son threw her his most pleading look, but she was immune to them by then. Eventually, he gave up. "Fine." 

"Good. And, just so you’re aware, at some point Emma and I will be discussing this further. But," she continued quickly when Henry's face lit up again, "only to work out exactly what this means and what needs to be done about our interfering child. It’s as simple as that, and I don’t want you to start mentioning it at every possible opportunity just because you’ve gotten yourself overexcited. Understand?" 

As expected, Henry completely ignored her. "This will be so great! Is she going to come round for dinner? You should cook that pasta you made last week – the spaghetti thing with the chicken? She'd like that a lot." 

Admitting defeat, Regina collapsed back in her seat with a groan. 

"And dessert too, obviously. Emma loves chocolate. Whenever she takes me for ice cream, she always gets rocky road. Could you make something like that?" 

"Please, can you stop?" Regina asked weakly. 

"And while you're cooking I can show her our photo albums so she can see how cute I was as a baby, and how good you were at—" 

"What?" Regina interrupted bluntly. "Henry, there is absolutely no way you're invited to this." 

"Why not?!" 

"Because it's your fault we need to have a serious, grown-up talk in the first place, and neither of us need you there sniffing around and making things even worse." 

Henry pouted at her. "But I'll be good." 

"All you've shown me recently is that you're incapable of being good," Regina said, reaching out and ruffling his hair. "Besides, you're being punished. I've already spoken to Granny and she's agreed to babysit for the night." 

"Granny?" Henry demanded. "Why not Kathryn? Or Ruby?" 

"There's that punishment thing we keep talking about," Regina said cheerily. "Part two is about to show up, as well." 

"What's that?" Henry asked sulkily. 

"An apology letter," she said, "for Emma. I've left some paper and pens on your table upstairs. Once you've finished your homework, you're going to sit down and write a letter to her saying sorry for getting involved and sticking your little nose in where it wasn't welcome. And I'll be checking it once it's done, so don't get any clever ideas about mentioning her coming over." 

"Mom," he whined. "What's writing an apology going to do?" 

"Well – since you're so interested in other people's letters, I thought it would be good for you to get some practice at writing your own," she said. "Now, you'd better hop to it if you want to get it finished before dinner. And no, you're not getting dessert anymore, so don't even ask." 


	2. Chapter 2

The house was in chaos. Not that it was messy – it hadn't been untidy since the day Henry had become old enough to be nagged and coerced into cleaning up his own toys. Instead, it was filled with a crackly kind of static that made Regina feel nauseous. She felt like she was living in a broken-down fairground ride that was moments away from getting switched back on again. 

The majority of the disarray was coming from inside her own head. A sizeable chunk of it, though, was spilling out of the 10-year-old boy who just couldn't tell when enough was enough. 

"Henry," Regina said, looking exasperatedly at Granny, who had been standing on the porch for nearly 10 minutes. "Please. Just take your bag and go." 

"I will! I'm just wishing you luck. Also," Henry quickly added before he could be escorted off the property. "She likes flowers. She pretends she doesn't but she does. Did you know she's got a tattoo of one?" 

"I had no idea," Regina replied absently. She'd hoped maybe this evening would pass without the whole town hearing about it, but judging by the intrigued look on Granny's face, that wasn't going to be the case. 

"Tulips are her favourite." 

"Okay, Henry, thank you." 

"Oh, and don't wear black. You look too serious. Do you have anything pink?" 

"Henry," Regina said, grabbing him by his shoulders and forcing him to turn toward the door. "You were supposed to leave at six. Granny isn't going to wait around all night." 

"Then I should stay! I _want_ to stay." 

"And your mother wants you to skedaddle so she can finally have a glass of wine," Granny interrupted, reaching out and taking Henry's backpack. "Come on, kiddo. Let's give her some peace." 

Eventually, Henry was dragged down the path and into Granny's waiting station wagon. The second they'd driven off, Regina shut the door, bolted upstairs, and switched her black dress for a dark red one. 

* * *

Emma was practically twitching as she walked up to the mayor's front door. She'd taken so long to get ready that she'd nearly shown up late, which was unthinkable even though she was certain Regina wouldn't be surprised. Plus, after all her effort to make herself look presentable, she wasn't even sure she was happy with the results: she couldn't force herself to wear anything other than her usual skinny jeans and black boots, but even though she'd switched out her favourite tank top for a button-down shirt, she still felt like a mess. Her whole body was uncomfortable and itchy, and she was already longing to go home, strip off, and hide herself under the covers. 

But because she was intrigued, and because they actually needed to do this, she rang the doorbell. When Regina answered, her stomach dropped. 

She was wearing a tightly fitted red dress that showed off every curve and every taut muscle in her abdomen, and there was a vase of flowers on the console behind her. The house was bright and warm and smelled of fresh laundry and food, and Emma was filled with an overwhelming desire to stagger back from it, apologising for daring to even show up in the first place. 

"Oh," she blurted out, tugging at the sleeves of her shirt. "You look... really nice." 

Regina could see how uncomfortable she was immediately, which didn't help to ease her nerves. She forced a smile. "So do you." 

"Not really," Emma replied awkwardly, glancing down at herself. "I didn't realise this was... I mean, I didn't want to put too much pressure on our talk." 

Regina realised that and appreciated it, although she didn't quite believe her: she could see the subtle changes Emma had made to herself that night. Her hair had been freshly washed and curled and was hanging gracefully down her back. Her shirt – thankfully, not a half-see-through white vest – was ironed and might even be brand new. She'd dressed up in her own uniquely Emma way, and in spite of everything, it made Regina smile. 

"Come in," she said, gesturing for Emma to walk past her. They went into the living room together and Regina vanished to get them both some wine. When she returned and handed a glass to Emma, she made sure their fingers didn't brush. 

Regina sat down on the couch beside Emma, carefully leaving plenty of room between them. Emma was looking down at the carpet, apparently fascinated by its fluffy beige fibres, and didn't glance up even when Regina said, "So." 

"So. We're... here." 

"We are." Regina took a sip of her wine and, even though she still wasn't looking at her, Emma immediately followed suit. Her green eyes were still darting from the floor to the coffee table to her glass, and her spare hand was tapping out an uncertain rhythm against the edge of the couch cushion. Regina swallowed and attempted to lure her out of her haze. "How has your week been?" 

"Um. Okay. Work's been busy." 

"I noticed. You've looked very preoccupied every time I’ve seen you." 

Emma smiled faintly but didn't respond. Regina's heart sank lower. 

She took another sip of her wine and watched as Emma's left hand crept up to play with a stray curl. The way the hair tightened around her finger and then effortlessly loosened like seaweed made her want to moan out loud. 

"Emma," she eventually asked in her quietest voice. "Is there a reason why you're refusing to look at me?" 

And just like that, their eyes met. In that instant, Regina's heart squeezed and shook and threatened to knock her sideways. 

"Sorry," Emma said softly, putting her glass down. She let out a long sigh. "I'm just... feeling kind of confused." 

Regina was going to ask what about, but she already knew. Strangely, she didn't feel so sad anymore. 

"Do you want to talk about it?" 

Emma glanced up at her again, taking in the concern and the unrelenting patience on her face, and nodded. 

"I guess this week has just been kind of strange for me. Things feel really different now even though I know you're not expecting anything, and I've been trying to make sense of all of that but I'm not doing very well at it." 

"Why not?" 

"Because, I'm..." Emma tweaked at her hair again, hunting for the words. It was impossible to articulate exactly what she was: she was confused. She was nervous. She was still certain this must be a huge joke of some kind, and that Regina was just messing with her to try and win another fight. She was hopeful. She was longing for something she'd never expected to want. 

She sighed and met Regina's gaze again. In her dark brown eyes, she saw that Regina already knew all of that. 

"I guess I'm just scared," she tried again. "This doesn't feel real and it came out of nowhere and I'm too busy thinking about how you're feeling to really know how I am." 

"And how do you think I'm feeling?" 

"I haven't decided yet. I'm kind of assuming you're regretting ever kissing me." 

Regina let out a wistful sigh. "Emma. No." 

"No?" 

"Of course not. I know it wasn't... the most romantic setting, but I don't regret it. I just need to know you're okay." 

"I'm okay. Or, well..." Emma groaned at her own inability to speak properly. "I don't know." 

She planned to try and elaborate, but Regina was looking at her with so much sadness and concern that Emma suddenly found herself snapping, "Look, will you stop staring at me with those puppy eyes while I'm trying to do a big, emotional speech?" 

Then she froze, expecting to get shouted at in return. She was shocked when Regina burst out laughing instead. 

"Fine, fine," Regina said, lifting both her hands. "I'll look the other way. Just say what you need to say." 

Emma took a deep breath. "Regina, I... Before this week, I'd never thought of you like this. I hadn't even _liked_ you that much. I didn't hate you, which was weird, but I overlooked that because I figured I was just trying on some deep, unconscious level to get along with Henry's other mom. But then the letters started coming and ever since then, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you for a second." 

Warm relief flooded through Regina's body. "Really?" 

"Really," Emma said, finally sounding firm. "And now I'm scared, because two weeks ago you weren't even a real feature in my life, and now you're all I can think about. You wrote so... beautifully, and so sweetly and honestly, and it totally knocked me over. I'd never thought of you as someone who would ever talk like that, and once I'd heard it, I couldn't get it out of my head." 

Regina felt hot with embarrassment, but she forced herself to reply. "Well. Not just anyone gets that kind of honesty out of me." 

"I know. I just definitely didn't expect it to be me." Emma smiled weakly. "It felt like someone actually saw me properly for the first time in my life, and that's a really scary feeling when normally everyone backs away the second they get to know the real me." 

"Oh, Emma," Regina sighed. That feeling was one she knew far, far too well. "I could never get sick of you." 

"Well, that's the other scary thing. I thought you already had, until this." 

Nodding, Regina took a gamble: she reached out, covering the distance between them, and placed her fingers gently on the back of Emma's hand. 

Emma jumped immediately at the contact, her gaze snapping down to look at where their skin was suddenly touching. Even when they'd kissed, their hands hadn't met. This felt forbidden, somehow. Like her skin was going to start smoking and Regina would eventually run away in terror. 

"Is this too much?" Regina asked. She was watching Emma's face for signs of discomfort, but instead she just looked perplexed. 

"...no." 

Regina pulled away again, then shifted on the couch so they were sitting closer together. When she touched Emma's hand this time, she didn't flinch. 

"Emma," she said in a soft voice that Emma was only just becoming acquainted with. She waited until they were looking at each other again before she continued. "I know you're worried that I'm playing some game, or that I'm just testing you, but I promise I'm not. Those letters were private and you were never, ever meant to see them, but you have now and I... I can't keep hiding this anymore. So if you're unsure about how you feel then that's more than okay – I just don't want you to be unsure about how _I_ feel." 

She felt herself being carefully watched for a moment before Emma eventually nodded. Her hand twitched under Regina's. 

"Okay." 

"And while we're on that subject, I want to make it very clear that I already know you. I'm not suddenly going to change my mind or back away. I've been getting to know you for months, and I... really like you. I mean, you're incredibly annoying," she added just to make Emma laugh, "but I like you anyway." 

"You do?" Emma asked with wide, glassy eyes. 

"I absolutely do. I think you're beautiful," Regina said, the words flowing easily now that she had Emma right in front of her and so desperate to listen. "I think you're a good mother, even though you don't necessarily want to be. I think you're a chaotic mess, but you're also strong and smart and get everything done even when it looks like you've got no idea what you're doing. I love your fire and your resilience, and I love that... even with our history, and the way I've treated you in the past, when those letters came to you, you didn't laugh at me." Regina swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. "You even came to my office to try and have a proper conversation with me, and when I refused to comply, you left without arguing. You're patient and you're understanding, and that's something I haven't had a lot of experience of in my life." 

Emma smiled, looking slightly teary. "No. Me either." 

"And I promise you, I can't see myself ever changing my mind on any of that. The more I get to know you, the more I find out, and the more I respect you. Like, right this second, I've just noticed that you have a brown freckle in your eye," Regina said, her gaze pinned to the amber dot just to the left of Emma's pupil. Emma's cheeks went slightly pink. 

"Do I?" 

"Yes – right there. And I know there's plenty more tiny things about you that I'll love when I get to see them. But only if you're comfortable with me trying to. Only if you actually want that." 

Emma was watching her like she was an encyclopaedia unfolding, filled with a whole ream of otherworldly knowledge. There was a long pause after Regina finished speaking, and for a second Regina was worried that a rejection was coming her way. But then Emma smiled and nodded. 

"Okay," she said, twisting her hand so she could squeeze Regina's. "Let's take this slowly – very slowly, since we're both a bit bad at this." 

Regina couldn’t help but smile. "Right." 

"But I think... I think this could be good. As long as you're absolutely sure this isn't all part of a grand plan to humiliate and frame me." 

Regina heard the joke in her voice and rolled her eyes automatically. Emma grinned back at her, suddenly light with relief over the fact that they were, for the first time ever, on exactly the same page. 

As Regina scoffed with derision over her stupid words, Emma leaned forward and very, very gently kissed her. When their lips came together, it was worlds different to the kiss they'd shared earlier that week: although it was still soft and tentative, the uncertainty was gone. They both closed their eyes, and when the kiss was over, they leaned their foreheads together and allowed themselves a moment to just breathe in the other person. 

When they pulled apart, Emma nearly melted at the sight of Regina Mills genuinely blushing. 

"So," Regina said, her voice rusty and thick. She swallowed to clear it. "I guess we should actually go and eat dinner before it starts to burn." 

Emma nodded, feeling hot all over, and followed Regina to her feet. As they were walking towards the kitchen, the phone rang. 

"Ignore it," Regina said, holding open the door for Emma to walk inside. The call was left unanswered and was nearly forgotten until 10 seconds later the answer machine boomed with the sound of Henry's voice. 

"Mom, I forgot to tell you – Emma doesn't like broccoli. Please don't force her to eat it like you do with me." 


	3. Chapter 3

When Henry suddenly came bounding through her office door, Emma had to force herself not to groan. Not that she wasn't pleased to see him, because she always was – she just knew from her dinner with Regina two days earlier that he was already far, far too interested in what had been happening between them. She'd been bracing herself for questions ever since, but had gotten off easy because he'd obviously spent all of Sunday harassing his other mom. Now it was Monday and school was over, he'd decided to try his luck with her instead. 

"Henry," she said, trying to sound enthusiastic. "How are you doing?" 

By way of response, Henry presented a Granny's takeout bag from behind his back. Emma's eyes narrowed instantly. "What's that?" 

"A bear claw." 

"For me?" 

"Of course," he replied, sitting in the chair opposite and tossing the bag onto her desk. The smell of the sickly sweet coating was instantly tempting, but she forced herself not to dive in just yet. 

"You're in a generous mood," she commented, noting his alert posture. "Everything okay?" 

"Everything's good. I just wanted to say hi." 

"Okay. Hi." Emma waited. "How's school?" 

Henry didn't even pretend to answer the question. "How did Saturday night go?" 

"Straight to the point," Emma muttered, looking down at the paperwork she'd been filling out so she wouldn't have to meet his eye. The pastry bag had left a shiny oil mark in the top left corner. "It was fine." 

"What did you talk about?" 

"Stuff." 

"What stuff?" 

"Is it any of your business, kid?" she asked. When she looked up again, he was grinning. 

"Of course it is. You're my moms. I need to know what's going on." 

"You don't need to know anything," Emma countered. "All of this started because you don't know how to keep your cute little button nose out of other people's business. Don't you think that continuing to pry is asking for trouble?" 

"Funny – that's what my mom said too." 

"Oh, so you've been bugging her too?" 

"Emmaaaa," Henry whined, his smile finally dropping. "Come on. I just want to know." 

"I'm sure you do, but it's none of your business." 

"Does that mean it went well?" 

Emma glared at him. "It was fine. You can go now." 

"Are you going to see each other again? Will I get to be there next time?" 

With a sigh, Emma dropped her pen on top of her work. "Henry, can you cut it out, please?" 

"Are you girlfriends now?" 

Emma's stomach dropped so quickly that she thought she might puke on her paperwork. " _Henry_." 

"I'm just asking! You had dinner and I know my mom likes you, so—" 

"Kid, will you stop?" Emma snapped. "It's got nothing to do with you. You know your mom was embarrassed by you finding those letters, so you need to start respecting her feelings right now before you end up hurting them all over again." 

Henry pouted at her. "But I just want her to be happy." 

"Do you?" 

"Of course. And I think you'd make her happy." 

Ignoring the little skip in her heart, Emma leaned forward and said as slowly as she could, "Then leave her alone and stop asking questions. Let her deal with this in her own time. You're still in trouble with both of us, if you recall – that means you're not getting any exciting gossip from me about my sort-of date with your mom any time soon.” 

Henry immediately beamed at her. He opened his mouth to reply – because apparently not knowing when to shut up ran in their gene pool – but before he could get a word out, they were interrupted by a huge crash from the doorway. 

Emma's heart sank when she saw Mary Margaret looking back at her, a collection of schoolbooks littering the floor by her feet. Her face had gone even paler than usual. She was staring at Emma like she'd seen a ghost, and didn't even seem to notice when Henry sprung up to help collect the things she'd dropped. 

"Hi, Miss Blanchard!" he said. "Did you come to say hi to Emma? Wait, aren't you going to see her when she goes home tonight anyway?" 

"Hi, Henry," Mary Margaret said, forcing a smile. She took the books from him with loose, flapping hands. "Yes. I just... needed to ask her something." 

Emma inwardly groaned. "Hey, kid – you'd better get home before Regina starts to worry." 

"Okay. Can I come back tomorrow?" 

"Sure thing. Keep bringing bear claws and you can come whenever you like." 

As Henry gathered up his things and headed for the door, Mary Margaret stood completely frozen with a huge, terrified grin on the face. She looked slightly manic, but that wasn't the reason why Emma suddenly felt so cold. 

"Hey," she said when Henry's footsteps had finally receded down the hall. She stayed at her desk, waiting for Mary Margaret to snap out of her trance. "Everything okay?" 

Eventually Mary Margaret nodded and took a small step into Emma's office. "Yes, fine. I just... I wanted to talk to you about something." 

"It couldn't wait til tonight?" 

Mary Margaret blinked uncertainly. "No." 

"Alright," Emma said, exhaling heavily as she prepared for her first ass-kicking in a while. "Go ahead." 

Mary Margaret shuffled into the room and sat down in the chair Henry had just vacated. For a moment, she didn't say anything. 

Then, "I heard something strange today." 

"Oh?" 

"About you." 

Emma’s stomach jolted. "Oh." 

"And I thought I'd probably misheard," Mary Margaret continued, eyeing the strained smile on Emma's face. "So I decided it was best to come and ask you myself." 

There was a long pause. 

"But then I heard what you said to Henry. About going on a... a date." 

"A sort-of date," Emma corrected, like that made the slightest bit of difference. 

"Right. With Regina." 

"Well... Yeah. It's a new thing. I'm not really sure what to make of it." Emma hesitated, then asked, "What was it that you heard earlier?" 

"I went to Granny's at lunchtime, and Ruby was there. She said Granny looked after Henry on Saturday night because you and the mayor were doing something together." 

Emma's already-forced smile nearly snapped in two. "Right." 

"What are you thinking, Emma?" The question burst out of Mary Margaret like fire. " _Regina_? Seriously?" 

"It's not a big deal." 

"Of course it's a big deal! How did this even happen?" 

"It's complicated," Emma said slowly. "I can't really explain. Henry meddled in something he shouldn't have, and it meant I found out that Regina likes me. So we're just seeing how it goes, taking things really slowly, and trying to work out what this means for both of us." 

When Mary Margaret realised Emma was being serious, she tried to smile again. It was the most terrifyingly fake expression Emma had ever seen, like those figures in Pompei who had been frozen halfway between laughing and screaming. 

"I see," she said. "And you think it could go somewhere?" 

"I really don't know – I think maybe, but I'm not getting my hopes up just yet. Our date wasn't even really a date. We just talked." 

"Well, that's _nice_ ," Mary Margaret replied, her voice shrill. "I'm a bit surprised, obviously, but as long as you're happy!" 

"Mary Margaret..." 

"I mean, Regina and I have never seen eye to eye, and I thought you didn't trust her based on how she's acted towards you. I guess I thought you were smarter than this. But!" she continued brightly before Emma could interrupt. "If you're sure, then I'm happy for you. This is great. Really, really great." 

Emma tried not to laugh at her red cheeks and slightly hazy expression. "Cool. Well, thanks." 

Mary Margaret nodded, which Emma thought meant this was nearly over. But then, in one last attempt at changing her mind, she added, "But you do remember how she's treated you, don't you? You do know that she's unstable and... possibly a bit of a sociopath." 

"Hey," Emma said sharply. "Yes, she's done some bad things, but that was only because she felt threatened by me. She's been much better recently – you even said yourself a few weeks ago that you haven't been harassed by her in ages. I know she's not your favourite person, but that doesn't mean she's a _bad_ person either. I believe she's good under all her bullshit, and if you're my friend, you should give her a chance. For me." 

Mary Margaret forced a smile that told Emma just how much she hated her for playing that card. 

"Right," she said eventually. "I guess that's true." 

"Can you just be cool about it for now? I won't start talking about her at the dinner table if it'll make you uncomfortable, but I'm not going to pretend nothing's happening either." 

With a sigh, Mary Margaret said, "Fine. As long as you're sure about all of this." 

When she eventually left, Emma collapsed back in her chair with a groan. People had begun getting wind of this far too quickly for her liking – if Granny and Ruby were talking about it, then the whole town would know by the end of the week. That didn't really fit in with her’s and Regina's plans to take things slowly. 

_I wonder if Regina knows..._

Before she could talk herself out of it, Emma grabbed her phone and dialled Regina's number. It was the first time she'd ever called her about something that wasn't related to Henry or a water pipe bursting on Main Street, and she could hear the exact same realisation in Regina's voice when she picked up. 

"Sheriff Swan?" 

"Hey," Emma said, trying to sound casual. "Is now a good time to talk?" 

"Of course. Is everything alright?" 

"Yeah. I mean, sort of," Emma corrected herself. She sighed. "I need to tell you something." 

Across town, Regina's heart lurched. "Oh?" 

"Don't panic," Emma laughed hurriedly. "It's not bad. It's just... So, you know we said we were going to move slowly and see how things go?" 

For the next few minutes, she recounted the events of the afternoon while Regina listened quietly. She was relieved that Emma hadn't been calling her to cut ties after one half-date, which meant the news that people were already finding out about it didn't fill her with as much horror as it should have done. Even Emma seemed to notice that. 

"You sound kind of calm," she pointed out eventually. "Are you okay?" 

"I'm fine," Regina replied. "I mean, it's not ideal, but it is what it is. I guess I should have spoken to Granny and asked her for some kind of discretion, but it's too late to worry about that now." 

"At least Mary Margaret isn't much of a gossip. She might not tell anyone." 

"Except her adulterous boyfriend." 

"Well, yeah. That is true." 

Regina laughed slightly. "Are _you_ okay?" 

"Yeah, I'm fine. It took me by surprise a bit, and I wish I'd checked the room before I opened my mouth to Henry, but it's not a crisis. I just wanted to make sure you knew before you went waltzing off to Granny's and wondered why people are looking at you weirdly." 

"People always look at me weirdly. It's called abject terror," Regina pointed out coolly, not taking offence when Emma laughed loudly. "So, while we're on the subject of moving slow – would it be too much if I told you I had a very nice time on Saturday?" 

Emma instantly felt her cheeks go hot. "No. Not at all. So did I." 

She waited hopefully for what might be coming next. Eventually, she heard Regina steel herself. 

"Would you maybe want to do it again?" 

It was the scariest question she'd ever asked. Dinner had been great – getting to watch as Emma relaxed into herself and told stories that Regina had never dreamed of being able to listen to was the most beautiful thing, and she'd spent every waking moment since hoping it would happen again. The only issue was whether Emma felt the same. 

She felt nauseous as she waited. Luckily, she wasn't waiting for long. 

"Maybe," Emma replied, sounding slightly shy. "I think that would be fun." 

Regina breathed a sigh of relief. "Great. Then it's a date." 

She winced as the words escaped her, unaware that Emma had just grinned with pleasure down the other end of the line. 

"Do you want to come to mine this time?" 

"You're going to cook for me?" 

"Don't sound so shocked. I do know how to." 

"I'm sure you do. Henry has told me wonderful stories about your experiments with Kraft mac and cheese." 

Emma rolled her eyes. "That kid is absolutely incapable of keeping a secret. But anyway, yes, I'm going to cook for you. If you're willing to take that chance." 

Leaning back in her chair with a wistful sigh, Regina said, "I think I might be." 

"Good. Does Saturday work for you?" 

"Absolutely. I can't wait." 


	4. Chapter 4

Even though she knew Mary Margaret wasn't going to be home, Regina felt slightly sick walking up the stairs to her apartment and knocking on her door. Coming to this place rarely ended well for her. The last time, she realised with a jolt, was when she'd walked in to find her last letter pouring out all over the kitchen table. 

But this time would be different, she reminded herself. Kathryn was round her house looking after Henry, which of course meant Mary Margaret was out 'looking after' David. The only person on the other side of that door was Emma, and she'd invited her. She'd sent her a text with a time and had even tacked on _looking forward to it_ at the end. Regina should be excited, but she was on edge. When she finally knocked on the door, her hand was shaking. 

The second it was tugged open, she realised she wasn't the only one who'd been struggling with their emotions that evening. 

Emma's painstakingly selected outfit was covered in flour. Her hair was slightly wild and her eyes were wide and glassy and a tiny bit hysterical as she forced a smile. "Regina! Hey." 

All of Regina's anxiety disappeared in a gust. She looked pointedly down at Emma's black sweater and asked, "What happened there?" 

Obviously Emma knew that question was coming, but she'd still hoped Regina might have momentarily lost her eyesight or her need to probe people on their behaviour at all times. This wasn't how she'd wanted to welcome her into her home – she'd spent all afternoon getting things ready, making sure the floors were spotless and there weren't any questionable remnants of Mary Margaret’s ancient personality dotted around. The ingredients for the risotto she'd decided to make were all chopped and weighed and lined up along the counter, which meant she could start casually tossing them into a pot as soon as Regina was getting hungry. The problems had started when she’d suddenly realised she hadn't planned a dessert. 

Emma looked down at her ruined outfit and sighed. "I was trying to make chocolate soufflé." 

"Soufflé?" Regina nearly choked. "Isn't that a bit much for your culinary skills?" 

Emma glared at her. "If you must know, Madam Mayor, I've made it before. Lots of times. I just couldn't find the cocoa powder so I was rummaging around in the top cupboard and then I... knocked everything over." 

She waited for Regina to hoot with laughter and tell her this was the last time she'd ever be allowed to cook for either of them. Instead, after a moment of stunned silence, Regina took a quick step toward her and pulled her into a kiss that was ten times more enthusiastic than the tentative ones they'd shared so far. 

When Emma staggered back, her eyes were starry. "Wow. Okay. Not the reaction I was expecting." 

With a smirk, Regina sauntered past her and headed into the kitchen. She spotted the bag of flour that had exploded all over the floor first, of course, but then her gaze was drawn to the neatly lined up bowls of diced and weighed ingredients. There was a recipe – grey and fading toward the bottom from the sheriff station's 50-year-old printer – propped up against the wall. Her heart coiled in on itself like a plastic bag being held over a flame. 

"Emma," she said softly. "This looks like a lot." 

"I was trying to clean it up before you got here," Emma gabbled, brushing past her and returning to the scene of the crime. "But obviously you're early." 

"Only by a few minutes." 

“And in those few minutes, I could have finally found the dustpan." 

Regina laughed. "Why did you decide to make something so complicated?" 

She saw the spots of colour that had appeared in Emma's cheeks immediately. "I just didn't want you to think I live off of takeout." 

Resisting the urge to reach out and pull her in for another kiss, Regina put the bottle of red wine she'd brought with her onto the counter and said, "Why don't you go and get changed?" 

"Because I haven't finished with the soufflé and I'll probably spill more flour down myself in a second." 

"There are such things as aprons, you know," Regina pointed out. She gestured to the stairs with her chin. "Go." 

Being told what to do always made Emma's spine crackle, but she found herself trudging over to the staircase without another word. 

When she came back down in a sweater that was dark green instead of black, she found Regina sitting at the kitchen table with two glasses of wine in front of her. The kitchen floor was clean of flour, and the remnants that had been rescued from the broken bag were sitting in a bowl on the counter. 

"You didn't have to clean up," Emma said sulkily. 

"I know. Just come here and have a drink with me before you get started again." 

Again, Emma found herself doing as she was told. The wine Regina had brought was infinitely nicer than the stuff she had in the fridge, so she was happy to settle down in the seat opposite her and sip it as they talked about their days. 

"So," she said, forcing a smile. "Henry." 

Regina grimaced, but with the loving resentfulness of a mother who knew and had accepted just how irritating her child could be. 

"I'm sorry he came and accosted you at the start of the week. I spent most of Sunday trying to calm him down and talk him out of a full intervention – I thought my half-truths and vague lies would have been enough, but I guess not." 

Emma rolled her eyes over the rim of her glass. "I'm starting to think you don't know him as well as you think you do." 

A month earlier, that sentence would have tipped Regina over into a full sociopathic rage. That night, however, she just smirked. "Are you about to enlighten me as to all his hidden ways?" 

It worked. She watched as Emma blushed. 

"No, of course not," she said. "I was only kidding." 

"I know you were, Miss Swan. And I'm only teasing." 

Emma threw her an exaggerated pout. "That's not fair." 

"Well, I'm the notoriously cruel, cold-hearted mayor. I'm never fair." 

Emma snorted into her red wine. "Yeah, okay." 

"No?" 

"Look, you and I both know you're a complete headcase," Emma said, ignoring Regina's scowl. "But I guess I am too, so that might make us a good match." 

"Is that so? Tell me more." 

"I just mean... You're highly strung and really anal and scary, and I'm a sloppy mess who's late for everything and gets into fights far too easily. Neither of us is exactly perfect, but we could work well together." 

"You mean, between the pair of us, we might be able to tame Henry into a 10-year-old who is merely infuriating, rather than looking at a one-way trip to military school?" 

Emma grinned. "Yes. Exactly." 

Regina smirked back at her, but then a note of seriousness took over. "I think you might be right, actually. I'm not saying we're 'something', but..." 

Luckily for her, she didn't need to go much further. Without hesitating, Emma reached out and placed her hand on top of Regina's, stilling her into silence. 

"I know," she said gently. It was a voice Regina rarely heard – she'd once caught Emma speaking softly to a homeless man sleeping outside of City Hall, and another time to their son himself as she tried to remind him that just because his mother was making him go to therapy on Tuesday nights didn't mean she thought he was crazy. It was the voice she used when she was trying to say something real – something that scared her to vocalise but she knew it needed to come out. And right then, she was stroking the back of Regina's hand with her thumb, using that same, sweet voice to tell her that everything was okay. Even if they didn't know what they were yet, they were still on the same team. And that counted for a lot. 

Regina smiled back at her, her heart brimming. When Emma got up to finally make a start on the risotto, she didn’t take her eyes off of her. 

* * *

By the time they found themselves full of food and moving over to the couch with a fresh glass of wine apiece, Regina felt more relaxed than she had in years. Annoyingly, it had something to do with the fact that Emma wouldn't back off and stop bullying her. 

"You've never seen _Miss Congeniality_?" she demanded as Regina placed herself gingerly on the edge of Mary Margaret's couch. " _Ever_?" 

"When would I have had time to watch that?" 

"Oh, silly me," Emma replied, rolling her eyes hard enough to shift a tectonic plate. "Between all your attempted sabotage, random appearances in Granny's and, of course, your late-night letter-writing, I'm sure that leaves very little time to watch a movie." 

Regina scowled at her. "I'm just not a fan of chick flicks." 

"This is not a chick flick," Emma protested, already grabbing the DVD without asking Regina whether she was happy to watch it. "This is one of the greatest movies ever created. This is iconic. I'm actually hurt on a personal level that you haven't experienced it yet." 

"I can see that," Regina said dryly, even though she was enjoying the aghast attention. Emma was looking at her like she hadn't experienced life yet, and she was strangely willing to let Emma herself be the person to introduce her to it. 

"Look, you don't get to talk to me until you've seen this," Emma replied, settling on the sofa directly beside Regina. "I'm pretty sure Sandra Bullock made me who I am today." 

"At least I know who to send the complaint letter to, then," Regina muttered into her glass. She immediately received a cushion to her stomach, which made her squawk with ungainly laughter. 

Beside her, she dared to realised, Emma looked just as content and relaxed as she felt. Her cheeks were pink from drinking and cooking and too much excited chatter, and ever since the moment Regina had put her first forkful of risotto between her lips and blinked with surprise, she'd felt the day's tension ebb away from her. Now, filled with chocolate soufflé (also a weirdly resounding success) and wine, she was happy to relax on the couch with a bickering Regina perched beside her. The mayor still didn't look entirely comfortable in Mary Margaret's living room, but that was okay – Emma was starting to realise that her discomfort around anyone she didn't fully trust was one of the most surprisingly reassuring things about her. 

Just as she considered this, Regina finally leaned back against the couch cushions and edged a single inch closer to her. Emma blushed and hit play. 

By the time Sandra Bullock was receiving her decidedly un-feminist makeover, Regina was glued to the screen. "But she wasn't ugly before. She just needed to brush her hair." 

"I know," Emma said, not even glancing at her. "But it's all about confidence, not about how she actually looks. This gives her extra power." 

"She had plenty of power already." 

"Says who?" 

"Well, she just kicked that guy's ass five minutes ago. What else does she need?" 

Emma looked pointedly at her. "Friends? Happiness?" 

"Don't say that like it's so loaded." 

"Well, isn't it? The whole time when you were in charge but had no one to talk to – were you happy?" 

Regina scowled. "Yes. Very happy. Until you came along and ruined everything." 

She was relieved when Emma just laughed. "Oh, I see. So this – when you're all giggly and chatty and have a little bit of chocolate at the side of your mouth – is what you look like when you're miserable?" 

Regina instantly reached up to scrub as her mouth, even though she already knew Emma was lying. When her hand came away with only lipstick on it, she let out an aggrieved huffing noise. "Now you've ruined my make up." 

"I'm so sorry." 

"No, you're not," Regina grumbled, looking around for her purse. "Now I need to reapply it." 

"No, you don't." 

"Says who?" 

Emma rolled her eyes, because Regina was so dense to the world of flirting that she couldn't even hear the playful note in her voice. 

"Look at me, Regina." 

Her tone wasn't commanding, but Regina looked up even so. She found Emma watching her with an amused smile, her drink suddenly abandoned on the coffee table. 

It was then that Regina realised she was slightly drunk. Her mouth was dry and tasted of too many different things, and she was struggling to focus on Emma's face. All she could see was her pink cheeks and her unkempt hair, and that annoyed her – not because she looked so messy and carefree, but because she couldn't focus on her well enough to see all the other lovely little things about her. 

Much to her own irritation, she heard herself blurting out, "I can't." 

"Can't what?" 

"Look at you," Regina said. "I haven't got my glasses, and you're blurry." 

Emma frowned. "But you never wear glasses." 

"No, because I don't normally drink three glasses of wine during the work day." 

"Ah," Emma said pointedly. "So, you're wasted?" 

"No." 

"You are. You can't see me because you're drunk." 

"I'm not _drunk_. My eyes are just hazy and you're too far away." 

She thought she was being very sneaky with that sentence, but when Emma laughed loudly, she realised her subtlety might have vanished some hours ago. 

"Right," she replied, shuffling closer. "How's this?" 

There were a couple of inches of space between them, so Regina gave her an exaggerated scowl. 

"Still too far. This isn't a TED Talk." 

"Sorry, your highness. Now?" 

"Almost. A little closer." 

Emma grinned, inhaling the warm scent of Regina's perfume mixed with the red wine, and closed the gap between them. "How about now?" 

Her hand was on Regina's knee and her face was only inches away. For a second, Regina couldn't think of how to respond at all. 

Then, she glanced down at Emma's mouth – slightly dark red from the wine and the chocolate, with her teeth appearing from between her lips like magic – and she realised words were utterly useless anyway. 

She dipped forward and kissed her, relieved when Emma sunk into it immediately. Their kisses before that had been slightly anxious and awkward, but all of that was gone now – maybe because they'd had enough wine, or maybe because they'd finally stopped skirting around the issue that they actually liked one another. Regina wasn't sure what the reason was, but she stopped caring once she felt Emma's teeth digging into her lower lip. She moaned automatically, slipping both her hands around Emma's neck, and when she felt a gentle tug on her waist, she didn't hesitate in following it. 

And suddenly being in Emma's lap felt like being home. The arms around her waist were strong and careful, and they held her in a way that told Regina she was both precious and worth completely destroying. When Regina rocked forward slightly, Emma groaned and slid her tongue deeper into her mouth, grinning when she got an eager whimper in return. The feeling in her fingers as they gingerly crept through her hair, pushing it back strand by strand until she had a fistful of it gathered at the back of Regina's neck, was electric and intoxicating. Regina sighed happily and kissed her harder, noticing that there was a weird fog surrounding them that felt like magic. Everything was soft and hazy and completely devoid of their previous uncertainty, and Regina thought then that maybe she could melt into Emma's body and curl up there for the rest of the night. 

Beneath her, Emma was struggling to keep her head up. Not because the liquor had taken hold or because her long day of worrying about risotto had finally gotten too much, but because the warm weight of Regina on top of her made her feel like she was sinking into a hot bath. The kisses being laid on her were tender and lazy, and yet she felt so utterly desperate for more. She wanted Regina to pin her down and make her cry out loud. She wanted to switch them round and bury herself in Regina's neck, teasing her and denying her until she finally heard her beg. Emma groaned at the thought, gripping Regina's waist harder, and lifted her hips. Regina met them with a whimper and rolled forward, her nails suddenly digging into Emma's neck. 

There was a split second where Regina thought to herself, _I can't breathe. I can't stop this._ She wondered what exactly would happen next, since she sure as hell wasn't going to be the one to press pause on it. 

But then, somewhere far, far outside of their happy little bubble, she heard a key in a lock. Emma's kisses slowed down but didn't stop entirely, and it was obvious that neither one of them realised the noise was coming from 10 feet away until it was far too late. 

When the door opened and Mary Margaret staggered in still half wrapped around her married boyfriend, the scream Emma let out was almost hysterical. She didn't have the strength left in her soft, jellied limbs to throw Regina from her, but Regina was very aware that she would have done if her fingers weren't halfway up the mayor's skirt. 

The moment Mary Margaret saw them on the couch, she screeched and reached for the light switch, not realising it was already turned on and then immediately plunging them all into darkness. David let out an awkward laugh before the lights came back on again, by which point Mary Margaret had straightened her sweater and fixed a manic grin onto her face. Emma's hands were still gripping Regina's thighs. 

"Oh!" Mary Margaret practically bellowed. "Emma! Mayor Mills! What a surprise!" 

Regina buried her face in Emma's neck and laughed weakly. 

"Hey," Emma said eventually, removing her hand from the edge of Regina's panties and forcing an awkward wave. "You're... back." 

"Sorry! I didn't realise you had... You didn't say anyone was coming round." 

"That's because you said you were going out," Emma pointed out shrilly. "I didn't know I needed to." 

"No, no, of course not! We could just..." Mary Margaret trailed off, looking desperately at David for help. But he was too busy trying not to laugh at the fact that the mayor was still straddling Emma on the couch to offer any support, and just shrugged awkwardly at her open-ended suggestion. 

Unfortunately, an opportunity to make Mary Margaret's life miserable had suddenly laid itself at Regina's feet, and she wasn't capable of resisting it. 

"You could join us," she said loudly, deliberately teasing her fingers through Emma's hair as she spoke. "We've only just started the movie. Mr Nolan, do you like Sandra Bullock?" 

Biting on the inside of his cheek, David nodded. "Mm. Sure." 

"Excellent. Then we can scooch down, if you like?" 

Beneath her, Emma let out an aggrieved groan and leaned forward to press her face against Regina's collar bone. Regina happily ignored her. 

"Miss Blanchard?" she asked, filling up with an almost sexual pleasure at the sight of her face turning tomato red. "Would you like to join me and Emma?" 

With a squeak of horror, Mary Margaret grabbed David's hand and dragged him into the bedroom. She hurriedly shut the thin gauze curtain that separated the bedroom from the living room and began to hiss at him in her quietest, most furious voice. 

The second they'd vanished, Emma burst out laughing, her face still pressed against the front of Regina's dress. Regina joined her, kissing the top of her head as she chuckled. The warmth of Emma's laugh moved through the fabric and settled into her chest, heating her entire body. 

"I should go," Regina muttered against Emma's curls. "Unless you're willing to see just how far I can push this?" 

"Absolutely not." Emma pulled herself free and, with slightly shiny eyes and rosy cheeks, smiled up at her. "This is already going to make for the most uncomfortable night of my life." 

Still giggling, Emma guided Regina over to the front door and helped her into her jacket. On the other side of the room, they could still hear furious whispering going on behind the curtain, which only made Emma laugh harder. 

Regina stepped closer to her and kissed her cheek. "I think you might be drunk." 

"And I think you might be the worst person I've ever met," Emma replied cheerfully. "But I had a really good time tonight." 

"Me too," Regina said, then lowered her voice so the eavesdroppers wouldn't hear them. "Although I'm sorry I'm having to leave now." 

Emma knew exactly what she meant by that and sighed wistfully. "Me too. I hope that next time we can..." 

The sentence was open-ended, which only filled Regina with hope. 

"Next time," she agreed, swooping in to give Emma a soft, grateful kiss that she knew she'd remember until their next date. "I'll make sure of it." 

Emma hated herself for leaning moonily against the doorframe as she watched Regina retreat down the stairs, but she couldn't help herself. Regina stopped on the next landing and looked up with a smirk, her lipstick entirely gone and her eyes dark and wild. Emma sighed and waved, wishing more than anything that Regina could have stayed over – or at least for another hour, since she knew exactly where their frantic kisses had been going. But under that, she felt soft and warm with relief over the knowledge that something amazing was already lined up for them. She just had to be patient and wait for it. 

Once Regina was out of sight and the door was shut, Emma turned back to the living room and sighed. Then, in her loudest voice, she called out, "Your wife is going to be relieved of babysitting duties in about 15 minutes, David. I'd hoof it home if I were you." 


	5. Chapter 5

Emma had gotten used to her heart rate picking up slightly when she spotted Regina's name on her cellphone screen. They didn't call each other often – mostly because there wasn't much to say when they worked so close to one another, but also because if they got into the habit of mooning over one another on the phone, eventually the rest of the town really would catch on. Even though a good number of people already knew about them, they didn't want to tempt fate by letting things spread even further, so usually they stuck to texts or actual face-to-face meetings. This meant that when Emma picked up the phone to hear that Regina's voice was shrill enough to take down an eagle, she wasn't entirely sure how to react. 

"Are you okay?" she asked, feeling Regina's manic smile down the line. 

"Yes, fine. Fine! Everything's great." 

"Uh huh. Right." 

"How are you?" 

"I'm good. Regina, are you sure you're alright?" 

Regina let out a noise that sounded like a kettle hitting the boil. "I'm fine!" There was a pause as Emma waited with her eyebrows raised. "It's just... Henry got home from school a moment ago." 

"Okay?" 

"And he's told me some... disturbing information." 

Emma groaned and rested her forehead in her spare hand. "What happened?" 

And that was when it came out: news had spread around town, most likely from Granny and Ruby loudly discussing it during the lunch rush, that Regina and Emma had been getting 'friendlier'. As a result, most of the school day had passed with a variety of children asking Henry what exactly his moms were doing together now and which one of them would wear the dress if they got married. Henry, to his credit, had stayed quiet and tried to ignore them, but there was one other person in the room who had too much information and wasn't physically capable of keeping it behind sealed lips. 

"Everyone," Mary Margaret had bellowed, her face bright red. "Whether the mayor and the sheriff are dating or not is none of anyone's business – now please leave Henry alone." 

Silence had fallen, and then chaos had quickly followed. Now, Regina could only imagine how many parents across Storybrooke were being told this exact same story. 

"Oh, Jesus," Emma groaned. "She really is bad at keeping secrets." 

"What are we going to do?" 

Weirdly, that question warmed Emma's entire body. Regina was panicking, but she wasn't throwing in the towel or asking Emma to steer clear of her for a while – instead, she was asking her how they could get through this together. It was the bravest thing Emma had ever seen her do. 

"Well," Emma said. "Everyone's going to know soon, right?" 

"Right." 

"And pretending it's all a rumour probably wouldn't convince anyone." 

"No, I doubt it would." 

"So, why don't we do the one thing that would shock everyone the most while also making you look like a carefree, self-confident badass?" 

Regina frowned. "And what's that?" 

"Going on a date. In public." 

She waited through the silence that followed like she was waiting for the winning lottery numbers. 

"But we said we'd take things slow," Regina eventually replied. 

"I know we did. But deciding to venture outside for our third date is only a big deal because it's us doing it." 

"True," Regina said, tracing her thumb along the edge of her keyboard. There was another pause as she considered it. "And you'd be okay doing that?" 

"Doing what?" 

"You know. Being... seen out. With me." 

It was such a desperately sad thing to ask that Emma wished she could reach out and tug her into her arms. 

"Yes, Regina. Of course I am." 

"Okay," Regina replied thoughtfully. She hadn't had an actual date since she'd arrived in that town, and the thought of everyone seeing her with Emma and immediately wondering what the hell the sheriff saw in her was terrifying. But she could hear Emma's soft hopefulness down the line, and even though she was scared, she knew nothing could stop her. "You're right. Let's do it." 

"We can start off small. Lunch tomorrow? At Granny's?" 

It did seem marginally less petrifying to do this in daylight, so Regina sighed with relief. "That sounds great." 

"And if anyone stares or says anything, I give you full permission to whip a plate at their head. No charges filed." 

Regina laughed. "Thank you, Emma." 

"Don't mention it. I'll see you at 1?" 

"Yes," Regina replied, gripping the phone tight. "See you then." 

* * *

Emma regretted her promise to not press charges if Regina assaulted anyone almost instantly, because every person turned to stare at them the second they walked through the door to Granny's. Most of them looked disbelieving, like they'd heard the rumours but couldn't possibly have expected them to be true, but there were a select few who looked like they didn't know what they were seeing at all. Emma and Regina weren't holding hands, but they were side by side in bold daylight and they actually seemed to be comfortable in each other's company. That was the truly strange part – that Regina looked relaxed and cheerful, and Emma's slouching posture had finally straightened itself out a little. 

"Let's just grab a table," Emma muttered to Regina as they felt every eye in the room settle on them. They slipped toward the only one left – which unfortunately was in the very centre of the room – and quietly sat down opposite one another, their awkward smiles fixed on their faces. 

"I hate this," Regina hissed after a few moments. 

"I know. But they'll get bored soon enough." 

But after a couple of minutes looking at the menus that they already knew by heart, the staring had been joined by suspicious whispering. Regina glanced up to see that Emma's cheeks were dotted with red, and her forehead was furrowed in a way it hadn't been in weeks. 

Without thinking, Regina slapped her menu down on the table and looked up at the gathering crowd with a glare. "Yes? _Yes_? Is there something that needs to be addressed?" 

It worked immediately. Everyone in the room jumped, then quickly turned away. Regina looked back at Emma with a smirk, and was horrified to find that her face had gone even redder. 

She swallowed and reached across the table. "Sorry. I just couldn't take it." 

When Emma blinked with surprise, Regina wondered if she was shocked by her admission that she actually did have feelings buried deep down under her permanent scowl. But then she followed her confused gaze and found it resting on their hands, which were touching in the centre of the table. 

For a second, Regina considered snatching hers back and apologising again. But instead she waited, and after a moment, Emma relaxed into the gesture and twisted her hand so she could squeeze Regina's. 

"It's okay," she replied, smiling again. Her cheeks were still pink, but it was a completely different kind of flush now. "I get it. And hey, it worked." 

"It did." 

"And if we're lucky, we might be able to get through the rest of this lunch without any more yelling." 

Regina grinned, feeling like a huge weight had disappeared from her body. She was just opening her mouth to say something else when Granny appeared at their table, a pad of paper at the ready. 

She stopped when she saw them holding hands. She groaned. 

"This whole town is screwed," she said, then turned away once more. The second she was gone, Emma and Regina burst into laughter together, their fingers still interlinked. 

* * *

They didn't hold hands on the way back to City Hall. Instead, they walked close to one another's side, their arms brushing with every swing. That was enough to make Emma blush happily and Regina's fingers twitch with longing. Around them, there was a whole new flock of people noticing their close contact and strange, wistful expressions. The whispering was incessant. 

The weird thing, though, was that they didn't care. Every few moments Emma would glance at Regina and grin as soon as they made eye contact. It was like they had a secret that everyone else in the town was desperate to know, and for once they were on the same team in keeping it from them. For the first time ever, it was them against the world. 

They were nearly at the sheriff station when Regina realised she didn't want that feeling to go away just yet. 

"Will you come with me to my office?" she asked abruptly before Emma could try and say goodbye. 

Emma blinked. "What for?" 

"I have some paperwork I need to give you," Regina lied smoothly, gesturing for Emma to follow her. "Saves me sending it over later." 

Without a second thought, Emma followed her into City Hall and up the stairs to Regina's office. The hallway was empty apart from Regina's secretary, who was eternally stationed at a desk right outside the frosted glass doors. Regina gave her a vague nod, then unlocked her office and led Emma inside. 

Emma wandered in, her hands shoved into the back pockets of her jeans, and waited for Regina to walk over to her desk and grab the paperwork she somehow had no recollection of. That alone wasn't unusual, since her brain only seemed capable of remembering the more physical parts of sheriffing, as opposed to the fiddly sheets of paper that kept her in her office until midnight at least once a week. She did, however, find it a bit weird when Regina closed the door behind them and quickly locked it once more. 

Before Emma could ask what she was doing, she felt herself being grabbed by the front of her jacket and shoved so hard against the frosted glass that the door rattled in its frame. She didn't even manage to squeak with surprise before Regina's lips were on hers, kissing her fiercely and possessively in the way Emma had been wishing they could kiss this whole time. They'd survived their first outing together, and obviously that meant all their hesitation was gone now – Regina was pinning her against the door with her entire body, her hands still gripping Emma's jacket and using it to hold her in place, just in case Emma had even the slightest idea of wriggling away. 

Instead, Emma threw her arms around Regina's neck and yanked her closer, moaning when her tongue slipped into her mouth. There was a toned thigh shoved between her legs and a hot, animalistic urge to grind down on it was suddenly building inside her. She kissed Regina harder to distract herself from it, but then felt her jacket being ripped off of her. Regina threw it behind them and moved her attention to Emma's neck, kissing from her ear down to her collarbone and deliberately dragging her teeth across the most sensitive patches of skin so she could make Emma gasp and wriggle. 

"Regina," she blurted out, her head thudding back against the glass. "What are you doing?" 

She could feel Regina grinning wickedly against her throat as she replied, "Thanking you for lunch." Then she was lost again, only able to feel Regina's lips against her pulse point and her hands clinging onto her waist. Emma reached down and peeled Regina's blazer off, tossing it away so it could join her own pile of leather on the floor. 

When Regina's lips finally returned to her own, Emma threw caution to the wind and skimmed her hands up to her breasts. The grateful moan that came out of the mayor nearly sent her slipping to the floor. 

"Emma," she sighed into the corner of her mouth, pressing her chest harder into her palms. Emma was suddenly longing to unbutton her shirt and yank the front of her bra down; to take her nipple between her teeth and gently tug. She wanted to bite the curve of her breast and leave a mark there that only Regina would see. Her head was swirling with sudden need – to drag Regina over to her desk and throw her down on it. To push her skirt up and see how wet her underwear was. To dive between her legs, leaving a trail of kisses up her inner thigh, and finally get a taste of her. She didn't care that it was the middle of the afternoon and Regina probably had meetings scheduled or that she herself was due at the grocery store in 15 minutes to look over some security tapes – all that mattered was the way Regina was whimpering into her ear, pressing her breasts harder into her touch, and gripping Emma's waist like she wanted to draw blood from it. 

God knows what Emma would have done next if a noise hadn't startled them out of their haze. 

From behind the locked door, they heard an awkward cough. They both froze. 

A split second later, they both remembered that they were dry humping against a frosted glass door and, right on the other side of it, Regina's secretary was still sitting at her desk. They locked eyes, momentarily filled with horror, until suddenly Emma burst out laughing. Regina couldn't help it – she joined her instantly, resting her forehead against Emma's warm shoulder, and laughed until her stomach ached. 

After that, they couldn't stop. Tears were filling Emma's eyes as she laughed and laughed, her arms around Regina's waist as she tried to stop her slipping to the floor. Regina shoved a fist into her mouth to try and quieten herself, but it did nothing to stop the laughter bubbling up from behind her knuckles. Any time she thought she was done, she heard the squeak of her secretary's chair from behind the translucent door and was immediately set off again. 

"We suck at this," Emma finally gasped into her ear. 

"I know. We really do." 

"We seriously thought we could take things slow." 

Regina nearly howled with laughter. "We thought we'd be _sneaky_." 

"Us. Sneaky. The two dumbest people in the world." 

Regina finally peeled back from her and wiped her eyes. "There's going to be a gossip column devoted to us in the _Storybrooke Mirror_ soon." 

"Probably. That'll keep Sidney busy, at least." 

Emma felt Regina winding their fingers together, and then she was being slowly pulled away from the door. She was led over to the desk, where Regina perched herself on the edge, still laughing, and guided Emma in front of her. 

Regina beamed up at her, her hair a mess for the first time in her life and her lipstick smudged. Without thinking, Emma reached out to wipe it away from the corner of her mouth, then sighed happily when Regina automatically melted into her hand. 

"I'm okay with it, though," Regina suddenly said, no longer laughing. Her eyes were wide and sincere and Emma could tell she was terrified of Emma saying the opposite. 

That made it so, so easy to smile and say, "Me too. I actually don't even care what they think anymore." 

Relief made Regina entire body go soft. She reached up and tucked a curl behind Emma's ear, pausing to admire how pink her cheeks were. 

She had so many other things she wanted to say – thank you, mostly, for giving her a chance – but before she could open her mouth, Emma beat her to it. 

"I have something for you." 

Regina blinked. "You do?" 

"Yep." Emma pulled away and walked over to the pile of jackets on the floor. After pausing to drape Regina's neatly over the nearest chair, she unzipped a pocket in her own and pulled out a folded and crumpled envelope. 

At the sight of it, Regina's heart plummeted. "What's that?" 

"A letter. For you." 

"Oh." Pausing to wet her lips, she asked, "Why?" 

"Calm down," Emma said, spying the mounting panic on her face. "There isn't some kind of disaster waiting inside." 

"Well, that seems unlikely, considering how my letters went." 

"We just hardcore made out for 15 minutes – I think they went pretty well, actually." 

Regina smiled weakly and took the envelope from her. Her name was written on the front in surprisingly neat cursive. "Do I open it now?" 

"No," Emma said, leaning forward and kissing her cheek. She didn't look nervous, which was alarming. "Later. Whenever you have time alone." 

And then she was walking over to the door, leaving Regina blinking. "Where are you going?" 

"To work, Madam Mayor. I'm late for a meeting and I'm sure you probably are too." 

She grinned playfully, then unlocked the door. As she disappeared down the hall, she made sure not to make eye contact with the secretary who was bright red in the face and pretending to be busy with a pile of blank paper. 

Regina was left perching on the edge of her desk with her heart in her throat and her gaze on the envelope in her hands. She wondered if she should wait until she got home before opening it. 

Three seconds later, she was tearing into it. Two pages of Emma's handwriting – starting off neat and careful, then gradually progressing into a scrawled mess once her thoughts started coming more quickly – were waiting for her inside. 

She moved over to her chair and sat down, the letter clutched in her trembling hands. She took a deep breath, straightened her spine, and started reading. 

_Regina,_

_It was all those beautiful letters of yours that brought us together, which means it's about time I returned the favour. I hope this is okay_ – _there's so much stuff I have to say to you, and sometimes when I've got your face right in front of me, it's hard to find the words. I thought if I wrote them down I might have a better chance of getting it all out._

_I shouldn't have read the letters you wrote. I'm sorry. When they showed up at my door, I should have returned them to you and left the choice in your hands. It wasn't right of me to keep digging into them and reading all the things you weren't ready to tell me yet. But something in me couldn't put them down_ – _it was the first time since I arrived in this town that I got to see some part of you that wasn't terrifying and making threats, and once I'd seen it, I wanted more. I hope you can forgive me for that._

_In an attempt to pay you back, I'm going to try and return the favour._

_There are so many things I'm not brave enough to say out loud_ – _and maybe won't ever be_ – _but I'm writing them down so you can hear them anyway. This is my way of saying sorry, and also to say thank you for being brave enough to write me in the first place._

_Regina_ – _I don't like love. It's stupid and it hurts and it's never worked out well for me. The last person I loved was Henry's father (maybe I'll tell you that story one day, once I'm certain you're not going to murder me for it) and that ended so badly that I haven't opened up to a single person since._

_When I got your first letter, I think I knew what you were trying to say, but I didn't want to believe it yet. You're Madam Mayor, after all_ – _you're a_ _hardass_ _with no sympathy for anyone, and you hated me. I was sure of it. But then all those soft, wonderful words came spilling out of you, and even though I tried to tell myself it was all an elaborate prank or another way for you to trick me into failing, I didn't believe it. I could hear you in every word and I knew it was all true. Still, I waited for a sign, and then another letter showed up. And another. Every time one arrived, I could hear you more and more. I could hear how angry you were at me and how confused you were, and under all that, how lonely. That's not an insult_ – _of_ course _you were lonely. You only had Henry and he wasn't exactly showering you with attention, and then your heart chose me of all people to long after. That can't have been easy for you, and to be honest, once I'd realised what was going on, I finally understood exactly why you kept threatening to destroy me. It's way easier to drive someone out if you think they might actually mean something to you after all._

_Before the letters came, I didn't think of you like that. That's the honest truth. I knew you were attractive and I_ _kinda_ _loved messing with you, but I never thought about you as anything other than the most dangerous woman in town. Then suddenly I saw this other side to you_ – _one that I hadn't been given permission to see_ – _and I couldn't think of anything else. I wanted to know what you looked like when you were really, truly happy. I wanted to know what it felt like to hold your hand. I suddenly couldn't stop imagining what it would be like to kiss you, plus all this other stuff that I haven't thought about in nearly 11 years. You were everywhere_ – _spilling over paper and drifting through town_ – _and now you're actually in my life, too. I get to talk to you and touch you and hopefully hold you one day, and it's scaring the shit out of me. The old me would have pushed you out again by now, but I'm so fixated on you that I can't bring myself to do it._

_Maybe this is way too much too soon (I do remember us agreeing to take things slow) but after the way you made yourself so vulnerable to me without meaning to, I feel like it's only fair that I expose myself in return. I'm trying to cram five letters' worth of feeling into this envelope, so it's bound to be a lot to take in._

_I haven't known you long enough to love you, but I think I could. I think I probably will. And that thought scares the hell of out me, but I'm going to be brave_ – _like you_ – _and run with it. If you'll run alongside me._

_I've made a reservation at that Italian place for 8pm on Saturday. If you feel okay with what I've said, then I'll see you there. If you don't, then that's okay. I just want this to be your decision_ – _not mine, and not your sneaky little son's because he's been rummaging around in your private property again. I want you to think about this, and about us, and what kind of future you might want. If you're willing to let me buy you dinner, then that's the best possible start._

_Somehow, yours,_

_Emma_

Regina reread the words through blurry eyes. Then, before she could accidentally text Emma and ruin her grand romantic gesture, she opened up the calendar on her computer and added a new entry for Saturday. 

_Dinner at 8. Bring tulips._

**THE END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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